Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of HaddingtonThe Tyne and its "Spates"

ALTHOUGH the Tyne has
been named by a country poet, the “gentle Tyne,” yet it is a matter of
history that it has often been very turbulent, and caused much damage in
property and loss of life, by its sudden and great risings.

In 1358 an extraordinary
inundation took place. The Nungate was swept away. Fordoun relates an
anecdote of one John Birley, whose house was flooded, but having made a
raft, got it fixed to the Nungate Bridge, and clung safely until he was
removed. He sung out,

“Row we merrily,
Well done, John Birley.”

On St Ninian’s Day, 27th
September 1421, it suffered greatly by another inundation. On the 4th
October 1775, the Tyne rose seventeen feet, and laid the town under
water. Again in September 1846, it rose to a great height, and flooded
the Nungate, and all the lower part of the town, as far up as Sidegate
Lane, and the Custom Stone.

Our present purpose is to
write a few notes as to the great floods of 1775 and 1846. They are not,
however, to be compared in extent to the great floods of Morayshire in
August 1829, so vividly described by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, who
propounds a very plausible theory for their cause. He says the
prevalence of westerly winds had produced a gradual accumulation of
vapour, somewhere to the north of the island, and the column being
suddenly impelled by a strong northeasterly blast, was driven towards
the south-west. Now something of the same sort must have happened in the
floods of 1775. The Tyne rises in a south-west direction from
Haddington, and is fed by branches mostly from the south. A tremendous
water-spout is said to have burst suddenly, which fell mostly in the
neighbourhood of the Gifford Water, and rolled down to the great terror
of the inhabitants. It is curious to note how certain striking events
become associated in dates with the history of individuals. For
instance, Tibbie Instant, an old Haddington woman, used to tell that she
was six years old, the year of the Flood. Tibbie lived in the Nungate,
and was put into a “kist” for safety, which floated on the top of the
water. Old Mr Peter Martine used to say that nobody could mistake his
age, as he was born in the week of the Flood, which event is recorded on
the plate at the Custom Stone. The generation of the year of the flood
have now all passed away, but some old traditional stories have been
handed down. In the Haugh, the wooden Chinese bridge below the Sting Dam
sluice was swept away, and the remains of it was found on Tyninghame
sands. The damhead at Lang Cram was swept away. The Lauderdale aisle in
the old cathedral was filled with water, and the leaden coffin
containing the remains of John Duke of Lauderdale was shifted out of its
place—a just retribution, as old people averred, for his sins and
iniquities, there being “no peace for the wicked.” An old pear tree in
Gimmersmills garden still remains, to the top of which Mr Forrest, the
then proprietor, and Robert Davie, dyer in Haddington, had to climb, and
remained on the tree until next morning. One of the mills was carried
away. Lennoxlove, Clerkington, and Amisfield grounds were much injured,
and much corn was carried down to the sea and lost. Carts off the
wheels, with hens sitting on them, were swimming in the High Street, as
far up as Nannie Moffat’s public-house, next the Tolbooth Wynd.
Tibbiedale was flooded also, Myles Burn having overflowed its banks, and
the water ran down Clark’s Entry. A sheet of water stretched from Lang
Cram, and covered St Ursula’s meadow, the West and East Haughs, Mill
Wynd, and Poldrate. Happily this flood happened in the afternoon, and no
lives were lost. To commemorate the event, a plate was put up at John
Hume’s house at the Custom Stone, with the following inscription:—“On
the fourth day of October 1775, the River Tyne at 3 o’clock afternoon,
rose to this plate. Quod Non Noctu, Deo Gratias, Nemo Enim Periit.”

The last remarkable flood
occurred in September 1846, and being during harvest, much grain was
again lost. The Tyne rose rapidly to the corner of the Custom Stone, and
as far up as Sidegate Lane, as in the old flood of 1775* The Nungate,
and the lower parts of the town were under water, as well as
Gimmersmills, the Eastgate-End, St Martin’s churchyard, and as far east
as Amisfield Park wall, which being broken down in several places,
allowed the pent-up water to escape. The depth of water along
Gimmersmills orchard wall was five feet, one of the Magistrates having
ridden along it on horseback. Tyne House (Miss Wilkie's) was surrounded
most part of the day. Millfield Lands, and the Haughs, were one sheet of
water. The distillery grounds suffered much damage. The tenant of the
West Mill had a cow carried down. The rushing of the impetuous flood
over the damhead at Lang Cram, and Gimmersmills, was terrifically grand.
The Nungate and Abbey Brigs, old veterans, stood bravely out, while
newer erections, including the new railway bridge at Linton, with its
lofty middle pier, were swept away. Many a country bridge over burns and
rivulets was much shaken, and a general repair of them had to be made,
entailing a heavy expense on the county.

Although the Tyne is a
small river, and not rapid in its course, yet it is of considerable
commercial value, there being upwards of twenty corn and other mills on
it and its tributaries, also several extensive works, such as Messrs
Bernard’s maltings, and Mr Coalston’s tan-yard. Its banks are adorned
with much natural beauty, and with old castles and mansion houses of
historical interest, such as Tynninghame, Lennoxlove, Stevenson,
Clerkington, Coalston, Yester, Hailes, and Crichton Castle, &c. Sir
Walter Scott did not think it beneath his notice, when he described
Marmion’s course to Holy-rood through Humbie and through Salton Wood to
Crichton Castle.

“That castle rises on the
steep
Of the green vale of Tyne.”

The county poet, Richard
Gall, has, in his address to Haddington, sung the praises of Tyne in the
following sweet lines:—

As fine a piece of river
scenery as can be seen anywhere, is to be found on the Gifford or
Coalston water, from Slateford downwards, to the old mill of Coalston, A
walk there on a fine summer evening will afford much pleasure, and amply
repay its length. The finely wooded banks, irregularly broken with red
freestone strata, amid a mass of foliage, will to an appreciative mind
afford much delight The beautiful vale of Yester, with “Goblin Hall,” is
also well worth a visit The Tyne affords excellent trout fishing, its
produce being known as of first-class quality. As Linton Linn has now
been cut down to allow grilse and salmon to get up from the sea, the
Cascade at Amisfield should be altered, or cut down, to allow these fish
to reach the upper parts of the river. The upper proprietors and lovers
of the rod should make a movement to attain this object, which is now
much facilitated by a recent Act of Parliament on the Fishery Laws.

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